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AUSTRALIA BIRDING
& NATURE EXPEDITION
Darwin, The Outback and Ayer's Rock Tour Description
Enter a fascinatingly remote world when you join us for this pre-trip to Darwin, The Outback, and Ayer's Rock. You can read stories and you can see photos, but until you experience it in person you really don't know The Outback. In our prior visit to Ayer's Rock, known now by its aborigine name, Uluru, we wrote, "Words fail, photos may illuminate, but this is one of those places you must experience to really understand. Uluru (pronounced ooh la roo) is one big rock! In sunlight it glows; in shadows it hides. Smooth graceful curves, crater-sized pock marks, 500-ft. cracks, dark waterfall lines. As an elephant touched by blind men, it changes perspective at every turn. With a composition of sandstone, 70% feldspar, its burnt orange color is striking. The enormity of a single rock is overwhelming, especially if standing in its shadow and looking up to the sky. It is the downspout for desert rainstorms, though they maybe as infrequent as seven years. Gushing waterfalls bring the water to the base of the rock and submerge into red sand, a bit remaining for a small pool surrounded by tall ironwood trees. Mostly, though, Uluru is surrounded by a vast, flat desert, so arid that aborigine survival depended on knowing where waterholes existed."
We start our trip from Darwin and visit Kakadu, one of Australia's best national parks, thread our way through The Outback of Northern Territory to Alice Springs, and then to Ayer's Rock. Along the way we will encounter the unique birds of this arid region, often surprised by the many parrots and finches that call this home.
Day 1: We will meet at Darwin for orientation and welcoming dinner. Darwin hotel for one evening.
Day 2: After picking up our rental RV's we will have time to visit East Point for shorebirds, such as Eastern Reef Heron, Eastern Curlew, Pacific Golden-Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Red-necked Stint, Common Greenshank, and Crested Tern. Then we will purchase groceries and head to our campsite near Darwin, a three-night stay.
Day 3: Birding at Howard Springs should get us Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Grey Whistler, Shining Flycatcher, and, best of all, Rainbow Pitta, with its pitch black head and breast, bright green back and wings, a wide sliver of glowing turquoise patching the wings, a crimson red belly and a subtle brown crown stripe.
Day 4: We will visit Fogg Dam, a wet paperbark forest and flooded marshlands that support thousands of birds. Notable here are Magpie Goose, Pied Heron, Royal Spoonbill, Paperbark Flycatcher, Large-billed Gerygone, Rufous-throated Honeyeater, Rufous-banded Honeyeater, Little Bronze-Cuckoo, and Forest Kingfisher.
Day 5: South of Darwin is Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Park, famous for its landmark aborigine rock paintings especially at Ubirr. Aboriginal people lived here for at least 40 000 years and we will learn their stories through their art. With the aid of an aboriginal birding guide, we will spend three days exploring this vast 4.9 million-acre park, birding the monsoonal forest and billabongs at the end of the dry season. Species we could find include Grey Shrike-thrush, Golden-headed Cisticola, Double-barred Finch, Crimson Finch, Little Friarbird, and Varied Thriller. Camp at Kakadu.
Day 6: A second day at Kakadu, we will visit Ubirr and Merl. Added species today could include Partridge Pigeon, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Black-tailed Treecreeper, Little Woodswallow, and Broad-billed Flycatcher. Camp at Coolinda.
Day 7: Before dawn we will board a boat and set out on Yellow Water just as the sun rises over the marsh. Here we should see thousands of Plumed Whistling-Ducks mixed with a few Radjah Shelducks. Bird sightings will come so often your camera will not keep up with the opportunities for close-up shots. Expect to see White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Brogla, Black-necked Stork, Straw-necked Ibis, Nankeen Night-Heron, Azure Kingfisher, and Sacred Kingfisher. And, you cannot miss the enormous Estuarine Crocodiles that glide silently past the boat. In the afternoon we head to our next campsite at Katherine.
Day 8: After some excellent birding across the road from our campsite, we travel south, penetrating deeper into The Outback. Birds of these parts include Apostlebird, Yellow-tinted Honeyeater, Singing Honeyeater, Banded Honeyeater, Silver-crowned Friarbird, Rufous Whistler, Cockatiel, and Long-tailed Finch. Today we will find the decoratively adorned - in green and white - bowers of the Great Bowerbird. Camp off Stuart Highway.
Day 9: Continuing southward through Northern Territory, we reach strange rock formations called Devils Marbles which glow fiery red at sunset and dawn. In route, today's birds should include Yellow-throated Miner, Pied Butcherbird, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike, Lemon-bellied Flycatcher, and if we are lucky again, Little Buttonquail. Camp off Stuart Highway.
Day 10: We will cross the well-marked Tropic of Capricorn and just before we reach Alice Springs we will bird a quiet road in the desert where it seems surprising to find any wildlife at all. Yet here we can find flocks of Zebra Finch, as well as Mulga Parrot, Diamond Dove, White-plumed Honeyeater, and Crimson Chat. Camp at Alice Springs for two nights.
Day 11: Low mountains, called MacDonald Range, rise near Alice Springs. At a stream passing through a gap in the mountains is a wonderful birding spot where we can find Grey Falcon, Spiniflex Pigeon, Red-capped Robin, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Western Bowerbird, and Splendid Fairy-wren. On the scree of the mountain side lurk Black-footed Rock Wallabies, and, above them, soars Wedge-tailed Eagle. We can also visit Desert Park where last trip we found Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater and Spotted Dove. At the Alice Springs sewage ponds we can find Black Swan, Australian Grebe, and Eurasian Coot.
Day 12: Now we head west to Ayer's Rock, stopping at historic way stations like Stuart's Well, that are an oasis of fuel, food, water, and hospitality. Birds are fewer here, but Galah, Budgerigar, Crested Pigeon, Whistling Kite, Fairy Martin, and Little Crow are expected. Camp at Ayer's Rock for two nights.
Day 13: We will enjoy a full day to view Uluru, sometimes with a guide to explain its history and importance to aboriginal people, but also walking the trails around the huge rock. Near dusk, we will watch the famous rock appear to be on fire with the glow of a setting sun.
Day 14: Back again to Alice Springs, this is our last day of viewing scenery of The Outback. Camp at Alice Springs.
Day 15: We will return our RV's in the morning and, in the afternoon, fly to Cairns for the start of our Queensland tour.